


Cross My Heart (Cross My Fingers)

by thelightintheattic



Category: Game Grumps
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Teenagers, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Recreational Drug Use, dan is super punk rock, punk!dan - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-29
Updated: 2016-05-08
Packaged: 2018-06-05 02:46:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6686068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thelightintheattic/pseuds/thelightintheattic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dan is known for starting fights, skipping school, his band, and, most importantly, breaking hearts. Of course senior year of high school has a lot of changes, some that even punks can't resist.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 19 Going On Extinct

A loud 90s pop song rang out, cutting through the twelve o’ clock silence and attracting the attention of several passers bys. Dan curses under his breath as he smiles politely at the people leaving the fast food joint, he’d forgotten to turn off the ringer. Not that it really mattered. But still, trying to be covert as he skipped classes and smoked behind a sonic while his phone rang obnoxiously wasn't the best combination.

Dan pulls out his phone and flicks his answer icon, pressing the phone to his ear. “Hey, what's up?”

“Would you like to tell me why I’ve gotten three calls from your school letting me know that ‘Daniel Avidan isn’t in class’?” Brian’s voice says through the device.

Dan shrugs even though Brian can't see him and ashes his cigarette. “It might be because I didn't go,” he answers easily.

“Oh, is that why?” Brian doesn't sound amused, but he never is when Dan does something he deems as ‘not a good choice’. “You do realize you're a senior, right? You can't keep skipping just because you don't feel like going and you want to go smoke. You're not gonna graduate.”

Dan glances at the cigarette dangling between his thumb and index finger. “Who said I was smoking?”

“Dan,” is all Brian says in reply to that question. Dan should know better than trying to lie to Brian. It doesn't stop him from trying though. “Get your ass to fourth period in ten minutes or I’m cancelling Saturday's gig on account of our lead singer being an irresponsible teenager.”

Dan gapes, “You wouldn't dare!” The cigarette makes its descent from Dan’s loose grip and lands on the concrete, bouncing once and rolling towards the grass.

“Wouldn't I?” Brian replies, his tone is smug. He knows he’s won. “Fourth period, now.” And the line goes dead.  

Dan shoves his phone back into the pocket of his ripped jeans. “This is so not punk rock,” he grumbles. He looks down longingly at the cigarette that has stopped it's journey barely inches from its desired destination. He sighs and steps on it, rubbing it out, then with hands tucked into the pockets of his beat up leather jacket, he starts walking back towards school.

It's not a long walk, barely ten minutes and Dan dreads every second of it. It’s not that he is bad at school, its just boring and being stuck in a classroom with a bunch of other kids for the better part of an hour learning things he’ll forget by tomorrow morning isn't his idea of a good time. He hardly shows up anymore, but it doesn't seem to deter Brian from trying to force him to get an education. Dan wishes it would.

Although Dan complains it’s kinda nice someone cares that much to force him to graduate, especially at his age of nineteen and being held back sophomore year. It's not that his parents didn't care but Dan couldn't stand that he felt like such a disappointment and he had tried to change, tried going to school, getting good grades. But it had sucked the soul out of him and he was up at night doing homework only to wake up three hours later. It had become a terrible cycle and Dan was consumed by the anxiety of being a disappointment again. That was around the same time that Dan had formed a good friendship and band with a Senior on the verge of graduating; Brian. Brian could see Dan struggling during band practice and had offered him not only help but a place to stay as well. Which, after a week of weighing pros and cons, Dan decided, at three A.M on a Wednesday, that fuck it. He was moving in with Brian.  

Brian who lectured him whenever he was slacking. Who was probably already rehearsing what he was gonna say when Dan walked through the door. Dan groans internally, he was so lost in his thoughts that he had already entered the school before realized he was inside. The security guard at the front, looks at him with suspicious eyes, taking in the ripped jeans and leather jacket, long, bushy hair and chipped black nail polish. He grins back as he passes. His class is towards the back and he’s sure the bell had already rung, his lazy stride not helping with his tardiness. Brian never said anything about being on time

Dan’s steps echos as he makes his way across the school and down the stairs, taking a sharp left and knocking on the door that's halfway down the corridor. After a moment a student opens the door and allows Dan entrance, he smiles his thanks, earning a flush in return.

“Mr. Avidan, nice of you to join us,” The teacher drawls, obviously unimpressed with Dan’s time management.

“Thanks, Mrs. Harvey,” Dan grins, but his charm is lost on the tall, thin woman with streaks of gray at her temples.

“Take a seat and try not to interrupt anymore than you already have,” She instructs sternly, then turns back to the board where she continues to write the weekly assignment in flourishing letters. Dan does as she says, his seat two rows over and three desks back. His grin widens when he realizes that he is sitting behind Ross O’Donovan, although Dan has never had any real interactions with the Sophomore, Ross seems to have some type of grudge against him that he expresses with irritated looks and grumbling which Dan will admit to finding oddly entertaining.

Once Dan takes his seat, he doesn’t waste anytime in leaning forward and tapping Ross on his shoulder. Ross twitches away and Dan can’t keep the smirk from tugging at the corner of his lips. He taps more insistently and Ross turns around, irritated look already in place, and Dan’s smirk blooms across his face fully.

“Hey, can I borrow a pencil?” Dan asks, he doesn’t need it, not really. Hell, he doesn’t even have any paper to write on, he’d given up on bringing school supplies around the same time he decided he didn’t care enough to go. But, any excuse to possibly annoy Ross is a good one, and he has thirty minutes and counting of class left, and he’ll be damned if he doesn’t make the best of it.

“No,” Ross hisses, careful to keep his voice quiet, Mrs. Harvey is a stickler for silence in her classroom.

“C’mon,” Dan whines, “please?”

Ross turns back around, the hunch of his shoulders gives away his annoyance, and it only serves to keep Dan’s smirk in place. He leans over again and rapidly taps Ross in the middle of his back, which causes Ross to try to pull away. He doesn’t get far due to the desk in front of him limiting his movement. After several seconds of this, Ross gives, and digs into his plain, black pencil case and pulls out a obviously cheap, purple mechanical pencil. The kind that’s used especially for these type of situations. It’s the shittest pencil Ross owns and Dan knows it. The sophomore hold the writing utensil over his shoulder, offering it to Dan without bothering to turn around. Fine, if that’s how Ross wants to play it, Dan is game.

Dan takes the proffered pencil with a whispered thanks, then waits precisely three minutes, or how long it takes Mrs. Harvey to turn back around to write on the board again, and starts to poke Ross in the back of the head with the end of the cheap pencil. Ross jerks away, but doesn’t say anything. Dan waits a minute, luring Ross into believing he’s stopped, then goes back to jabbing him in the scalp. The sophomore swings his hand back, swatting at the utensil, in an attempt to knock it from the Senior’s hand but he misses and creates a breeze instead. Once Ross retracts his hand, Dan continues with his ministrations and watches with fascination as the shape of Ross’ shoulders become more tense with every tap to his scalp. Suddenly Ross twists around in his seat and snatches the pencil from Dan’s unexpecting grip.

“Stop it!” Ross snaps, forgetting to control the volume of his voice in his anger.

“Mr. O’Donovan, outside. Now.” Mrs. Harvey orders from the front of the class. When Dan leans slightly to the left to get a better look at the teacher from behind Ross, he can see that she is quickly leaving being irritated and going straight into down right _pissed._

Ross turns back around, “But, Mrs. Har-”

“Outside, O’Donovan,” She seethes, pointing at the door. “Don’t make me call your parents.”

A collected elongated ‘ooooh’ rises from the class, but a sharp look quiets it at once. There is hushed whispers and stifled giggles as Ross shoves his things into his backpack and trudges to the door, head lowered the whole way. Once the door clicks closed, Mrs. Harvey sighs, mumbles under her breath about ‘kids these days’ and continues on with the lesson. Dan glances at the clock, twenty minutes left. Great.

-

Dan sometimes spends his time loitering after school, sitting in the parking lot long after the buses have left, nestled between a rusted, green dumpster and the bricked wall of the back of the school. It smells like shit, but Dan often can’t smell it over the cigarette smoke. Today, after class, he’s at the spot again, already having gone through two cigarettes and contemplating another. He’s more than halfway through the pack and he’s burning through his spare cash. He’s deciding if he would prolong the lecture awaiting him or to just get it over with already when he hears it, the telltale sound of a scuffle. Dan has been in too many fights and gone to this school for too long to mistake it for anything else besides what it is. Some kid is getting the shit beat out of them.

Dan shoves the pack into his back pocket as he stands up, his legs protesting at the sudden movement after being curled in towards his chest for an uncounted amount of time. He ignores it in favor of moving towards the commotion that seems to be coming not too far from his designated smoking spot. In fact, he barely has to walk five steps, he turns the corner and the scene of two kids mercilessly beating the shit out of the third unfurls before him.

The kid they’re beating is smaller than them, and is curling defensively into a ball, trying to protect his stomach while his hands are wrapped protectively around his head. The two other boys are ones Dan recognizes from sixth period, he’s sold them pot before, which is probably why he remembers them better. The taller of the two is kicking the boy on the ground as hard as he can in the back, and the other is leaning over and repeatedly alternating between ramming his fist into the kid’s chest and head.

“You’re not talking shit now,” The taller of the two is saying, each word punctuated with a hard kick to the side. Dan winces, he knows how that feels, it’s happened before to him.

Before he knows it, Dan is taking those few strides forward and yanking the boys off the smaller of the two. “Cut it the fuck out.”  

The teenagers stumble back, taken off guard by someone suddenly interrupting. Once they get a good look at Dan they sneer. “Oh, if it isn’t Danny Sexbang,” the shorter one says, “The school failure.”

Dan rolls his eyes, “Wow, how long have you been sitting on that one?”

The two offenders grit their teeth, “Why don’t you just fuck off, this isn’t your business,” the taller teenager replies.

“‘Cause that’s not really punk rock,” Dan shrugs, he spares a glance at the boy still lying on the cement and realizes with a jolt that it’s Ross. Dan suddenly feels worse for the sophomore, because he was getting his ass handed to him and probably would’ve continued to for who knows how long if Dan hadn’t of stepped in.

“Just get lost before we beat the shit out of you too,” one of the boys says, pulling Dan’s attention back to them, and that’s when Dan is done with this shit, because sure they can easily kick the ever loving fuck out of Ross, it’s not a hard thing to accomplish. The kid might weigh about a  hundred pounds on a good day. But Dan has been in plenty of fights, hell, he still had fresh scabs and purple bruises from the last encounter he had. So that these two teenagers are trying to scare him off from interfering with their totally unfair fight by saying they’re gonna try to kick Dan repeatedly is just a bit irritating.  

“I don’t know, man, kinda think you two should just fuck off,” Dan replies casually, it’s only fair he should try to avoid the fight. At least that way if Brian scolds him about it he can say he attempted to not punch the asshole in the face.

The boys guffaw and that’s it, Dan has no choice to fuck shit up, and the cuts on his  hand had just healed the other day. Dan sighs, and reels back and before anyone can figure out what’s going on, Dan is crashing his fist hard into the tallest of the two’s nose, feeling the bone crack against his knuckles. The teen stumbles back, howling in pain as he cups his nose, blood spilling out from between his fingers and dropping down his to stain his shirt and the pavement. The other boy stares at shock at his friend, then turns to look at Dan, who is calming watching them, like he didn’t just break a kid’s nose. The kid grabs the taller teen’s arm and takes off, running across the parking lot, leaving a trail of splattering blood drops in their wake. Once they’re out of sight, Dan drops down onto his haunches besides Ross who is still curled up on the ground.

Dan’s hand is hovering above Ross’ shoulder when he hears it. Sniffling. The kid is crying. Dan makes a face, looking around the parking lot to see if there is anyone else he can hand the responsibility of a crying kid off to, but no dice, it’s empty except for the both of them. Dan is going to have to deal with this on his own.

Dan drops his hand down onto Ross’ arm, and he immediately jerks, curling up tighter. “Hey, Ross, are you alright?”

Ross stays silent, but he loosens from his protective position barely, which Dan is going to take as a good sign.

“Is anything broken? Can you stand up?” Dan asks, Ross doesn’t look too hurt, but he doesn’t know how long they’ve been beating on him and from those kicks Ross is gonna have several foot shaped bruises on his back and sides for a while.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Ross finally replies, his voice is quiet and watery and Dan has to strain to hear it.

Dan smiles despite himself. “Yeah, well you gave me a pencil. It’s only fair,” he pauses before adding, “Plus, you looked like a helpless princess, and I’m all about that hero complex.”

Ross sits up quickly, and Dan is sure he’s just made himself lightheaded. “I’m not a princess!” He protested, the annoyed look he usually has when he’s around Dan is at full force and Dan can’t help but laugh and ruffle Ross’ hair, “Whatever you say, princess,” he winks and stands up, he takes satisfaction in the way a blush spreads across Ross’ cheeks.

Ross scrambles up after him, brushing off his clothes, there is a tear in the sleeve of his right arm and the collar is stretched out, but besides from the few scrapes and the bruises he’s sure to develop, he looks like he did a good job protecting himself from the inflicted blows. Dan shoves his hands into his pockets and deciding his work is done and starts walking in the direction of home.

“I could’ve handled it just fine by myself!” Ross calls after him, all indigent and wounded pride.

Dan stops walking and turns back to face the sophomore, “well you didn’t, so I did.”

The blush staining Ross’ face brightens, only from humiliation this time. “I would’ve,” he reinforces, but he sounds less sure, embarrassment creeping into his voice.

“Yeah, I’m sure your tears would’ve stopped them dead in their tracks. You were definitely onto something there,” Dan deadpans, he immediately regrets it when Ross’ eyes get foggy. Shit.

“Dude, don’t cry, that’s not even close to punk rock. Just..” Dan sighs and runs a hand through his hair. “I’ll buy you some fries or something, I don’t know, come on.”

Ross nods and wipes his eyes roughly and Dan is just grateful none of the tears made it down the kid’s cheeks because Dan is really not good with crying people, and Ross is never amused with anything he says in the first place, so trying to make Ross stop crying seems like a way harder task than he can currently accomplish, so he figures the best way to deal with it is to prevent it, even if it means spending his cigarette cash.

The closest restaurant is McDonald's, which is about half a block away and it’s probably the longest, most awkward walk Dan has had to take in a long time, because Ross refuses to say anything and just sniffs and wipes his face occasionally, which doesn’t leave a lot for Dan to say, especially since he’s never actually talked to Ross outside of annoying him in class. Sure he’s seen him in the parking lot and maybe a glance of him in the halls, but there was no actual interaction, which makes this pretty weird.

They make it to the fast food joint seconds before Dan decides that throwing himself in front of the next oncoming car is a good way to escape the awkward situation he placed himself in. The restaurant isn’t that crowded, a few teenagers are sitting at the booths in the back, tapping repeatedly at their phones and barely sparing a glance at their friend sitting across from them. A mother tries to hush her crying toddler behind the glass separating the main dining area from the McDonald’s play place.

Dan heads to the counter, not bothering to check if Ross is following, he’s sure he is. He wouldn't withstand several minutes of an uncomfortable walk just to call it quits now. The bored teenager behind the counter, gives them blank look as he tells them their total for three boxes of large fires. Dan shoves his hand into his pocket and retrieves a few crumped bills and some loose change. He slides it across the surface and the worker counts it, leaving him with two dimes. Dan pockets them along with his receipt and moves an inch to the left as the teenager disappears into the back to ready their order.  

“So, you make a habit of getting beat by several seniors, or were you just feeling it today?” Dan asks, jokingly. The resulting glare lets Dan know he should've said something else. But that's the only thing that came to mind and Dan wasn't gonna let the awkward silence continue through this whole encounter.

“Oh, yeah, I go out of my way to try to achieve fractured ribs,” Ross snaps and Dan can't help but roll his eyes.

“You don't have fractured ribs. The most you’ll get is a few bruises that will fade in a week,” Dan shrugs. “You're just sore.”

Ross makes a face but doesn't say anything and lapse back into an uncomfortable silence, it's only broken when the McDonald's employee sets their order of three large fries down and returns to their post to take the order of another customer that had come in not long after Dan and Ross. Dan takes the tray off the counter and heads to his usual seat. Bypassing the main dining area in favor of sitting in the bright red firetruck in the playpen area. Dan drops the tray onto the table and scoots in. Ross gives Dan a confused look but sits across the punk all the same. Dan pushes one of the cartons of fries towards Ross as he rips open one of the ketchup packets, smearing the contents on his fingers on accident.

“This isn't really punk,” Ross says suddenly, mocking Dan’s usual saying and causing Dan to look up from where he was wiping his hands off on one of the napkins.

Dan grins, “you're right, it’s not punk. It’s punk _rock_.”

Ross rolls his eyes and doesn't reply. Instead taking one of the fries and pressing it into his mouth to chew on.

“Don't try to tell me you don't like hanging out in the super cool firetruck,” Dan continues, dipping a fry into the pool of ketchup he created on the tray.  

“So, what, ‘Danny Sexbang’ suddenly goes to class, gets me in trouble, has a hero complex and then buys me fries?” Ross asks, his voice suspicious, “what are you trying to pull?”

Dan blinks at Ross for a moment before bursting out laughing, “Nothing. You looked like you were gonna cry and food fixes everything “

Ross flushes fully, staining his cheeks a pretty pink color and Dan wants to reach across the table and see if Ross’ face is as warm as the blush is making it out to be. Instead he shoves more fries in his mouth. “And please, you can call me Sexbang for short.”

Ross reels back and gives Dan a disgusted facial expression, “No way in hell!” he snaps, the mother a table down from them gives Ross a sharp look and the teenager slouches a bit in shame, mouthing a quiet ‘sorry'. He loses the guilt when he looks up and sees Dan snickering, a smirk tugging at his lips. “I hope you choke,” Ross grumbles and eats more fries.

Once they finished and Dan has shoved the remaining container of fries into his pocket for later. He gets up and grabs Ross’ wrist, pulling him from the booth and towards the structure made for kids to play in. Ross struggles against Dan. “Hey! What are you doing. Let go!”

“We’re gonna have some fun,” is Dan’s reply as they reach the entrance and he pushes Ross towards it.

“This isn't made for teenagers!” Ross protests, but he still goes inside, having no other choice as Dan is blocking any other route.

“That's why it's fun,” Dan laughs, following after Ross, having to keep his head low to avoiding bumping it against the ceiling. Ross is grumbling the whole way through the structure and Dan is grinning, once they reach an opening Dan stops and yanks Ross back into the more roomy space, he leans back against the clear plastic that creates a foggy window and stretching his legs out, bracketing them around Ross’ hips. Ross seems to be considering something for awhile before sighing and extending his legs as well, having to lay them on top of Dan’s in order to stretch them out fully.

“Just so you know, this doesn't make us friends,” Ross says sternly.

Dan smiles and leans forward, his back protesting the action, but he ignores it in favor of tapping Ross once on the tip of his nose with his index finger. “Of course not, it's makes you my princess.”

Ross sputters, the blush resurfacing. “I am not your princess!” He argues, retracting his legs and trying to scramble out of the play place structure. But it isn't made for two teenage boys and Dan is still sprawled across the space, making it hard for Ross to crawl out. Dan doesn't make any move to help the younger boy and just watches, a smirk decorating his face.

After a minute of watching Ross huff and shove at Dan’s legs, Dan shifts over, allowing Ross enough space to make it through the crawl tube,the sophomore disappears from sight and Dan decides to take the faster way down. So he goes back through the tunnel they came from and takes a left, which leads him to the bright orange slide. He climbs on easily and propels himself down, landing on his feet when he reaches the ground and when he stands he throws his hands up for good measure.

He catches sight of Ross exiting the crawl tube and making his way out of the play place and McDonald's altogether. Dan catches up easily, his long legs closing the distance in a little more than a few strides.

Ross glances behind him and glares when he sees it's Dan. “Go away! I’m going home!”

“Now, I can't let you go alone, what kind of hero would I be if I let a princess walk home by themselves when it’s getting dark?” Dan asks, faux offended. “Besides, what if you get attacked again? Pretty ones like you are bound to be.”

Ross whirls on Dan and jabs his chest with his finger. “For the last time! I am not a goddamn princess!” he shouts, startling a middle age woman. Dan smiles and waves at her.

“If you say so,” Dan replies. Ross nods and turns back around and continues to walk, his pace quicker this time. Dan keeps up with ease, a grin pulls at his mouth, “princess.”

Ross groans in frustration, but takes to ignoring Dan for the rest of the journey. It’s only when they turn onto what Dan presumes is Ross’ street that the younger teen stops. “Go away now,” he says sternly.

“Why?” Dan asks, puzzled. He glances at the houses lining the street, two of them pale blue and the rest a slight different shade of taupe. They alternate between being one and two stories.

“Because I don’t want you to know where I live!”  Ross explains, a slightly whiny tone coating his words.

Dan laughs, “what do you think I’m gonna do with that information?” He can’t think of anything personally and is kinda interested to hear what Ross imagines he’ll do.

“I don’t know!” Ross confesses, “but it won't be good.”

Dan shakes his head, getting hair in his face in the process. “Ross, I promise you that I won't do anything bad with your address,” He holds up his pinky to the sophomore.

“Pinky promise.”

Ross looks at the offered finger suspiciously, like it's a trap and Dan is too amused to be offended that Ross seems to think that Dan has it out for him even after what happened today.

“Fine, whatever,” Ross huffs and turns away, and Dan can see him watching him from the corner of his eye as he shakes the hair out of his face.

Ross starts walking again, making it to the front of the two story blue house when Dan reaches out and touches his arm. He turns his attention to the punk. “What?”

Dan just grins and presses his mouth to the teenager’s cheek in what is certainly considered a kiss.

Ross jerks away and rubs his cheek roughly. “What the fuck was that?” he demands, “I don't know if you couldn't tell, but I’m not a part of your Danny Sexbang fan club! God, you probably gave me herpes!”

Dan gives Ross a steady look. “First of all that’s rude as hell, secondly, that's not how herpes work.”

Ross is still scrubbing at his cheek and the red from the irritation of his skin is blending in nicely with the flush that extends from ear to ear. A blush that Dan can't help but find completely endearing. The exact reason he kissed Ross’ cheek in the first place. Ross shoots Dan the dirtiest look he can muster and hightails it inside, slamming the door behind him

Dan can't help but laugh.


	2. Sophomore Slump

Ross has three goals for his high school career. 1. Graduate, 2. Stay under the radar, and 3. Avoid Dan Avidan.  Out of all of those, he’s only accomplishing one. He’s wrecked the last two within the same day, and it wasn’t on purpose or even remotely planned.  The first was because he couldn’t keep his mouth shut, which had always been a lifelong problem, but it was hardly his fault.

He had been leaving the school after staying later than usual for tutoring, he had a C he was trying to bring up at least a B before the grading period ended. He hadn’t expected the two older teens to be there hanging out in the parking lot. He’d tried to ignore them when they’d called out to him, and he had been doing a good job, keyword being had. Until they had asked if he sucked Dan Avidan’s cock cause they seemed to be so buddy buddy in class. And that's when Ross turned around and had called them a bunch of “gross ugly fucks, who if were twice as smart would still be stupid” and then he’d gotten the shit beat out of him.

The second goal burning and crashing could in no way be blamed on him. How the hell did he know that the punk he was trying so hard to avoid apparently stuck around school. Which made absolutely no sense. Dan never showed up to class. In fact seeing him twice in one week and even for half a class was such a rare occurrence that it had the high school rumor mill running a hundred miles per hour on why Dan was at school. Ross’ favorite was still and probably always will be “he has a girlfriend who he cares enough about to try at school for” yeah fucking right.

But what Ross can’t understand is why he agreed to going to get fries with Dan. Maybe it was his charm or infectious grin, but he had agreed all the same. And as much as Ross wanted to say it was the worst experience of his life, it wasn't, it was actually kind of fun.

Ross stomps up the stairs, quickly replying to his mother’s greeting before slamming the door shut and dialing the first name on his call log list.

“Hello?” Ross’ best friend answers.

“Barry! Dan Avidan knows where I live and he’s probably going to kill me in the middle of the night!” Ross cries into the phone.

“Okay,” Barry says simply. “What makes you think that?”

Ross is pacing across the room at an agitated speed. “I was getting attacked by two seniors after school and Dan showed up and punched one in the face, and blood was pouring from his nose, like I’m talking fountain!” Ross’ voice is racing as he struggles to get everything out in one breath. “And then Dan bought me fries and made me get into the playground thing in McDonald’s and then he followed me home and he’s probably gonna come back tonight with his punk gang and murder me in my sleep!”

“So, you got your ass beat? What did you do?” Is the reply, and Ross’ agitation shoots up.

“That is so not the point,” The sophomore snaps, he’s just standing in the middle of room now, glaring at the wall.

“Okay, so Dan bought you fries after you got your ass beat?” Barry corrects himself.

“Can we please drop me getting attacked and talk about the possibility of me getting murdered?” Ross demands, flopping onto his bed face first so the end of this sentence comes out muffled, but Barry understands what he’s saying.

“Yeah, sure,” Ross knows Barry well enough to know that he’s probably shrugging. “But, like, Dan _totally_ saved you from getting your ass totally beat.”

“Barry!” Ross shouts as he turns onto his back, his mother’s voice floats up from downstairs and Ross is sure she’s telling him to quiet down.

“Okay, okay,” Barry concedes. “But you’re not gonna die or whatever, Dan isn’t like that, he doesn’t even have a gang.”

“How do you know ‘he isn’t like that’?” Ross asks, “you didn’t see him punch that guy in the face, it was terrifying!”

“He skips school and smokes, he usually doesn’t get involved in fights unless he’s provoked.”

“How do you know all this? Are you his B.F.F. or something?” Ross grumbles, rolling his eyes.

“No, I’m _your_ B.F.F. I just know because I keep up to date on stuff happening at school.” Barry replies, coolly.

“Whatever, doesn’t change the fact that he knows where I live,” Ross’ voice is reaching a somewhat whiny tone, but he can’t help it. Dan Avidan, the punk from school, who gets into several fights a week, knows where he lives and although he said he wasn’t going to do anything with the information, Ross hasn't decided if he trusts him or not yet.

“Nothing is going to happen, Ross, he would've already done something,” Barry reassures him. “Also I got a question.”

Ross grumbles under his breath and Barry takes it as a positive reinforcement to continue. “There is a band playing on Saturday at Pete’s bar.”

Ross knows where this is going, Barry wants him to go with him. “No.”

“Come on, they're really good and two of their bands are playing!” Barry tries to persuade him. “It’ll be fun.”

Ross sighs, he doesn't really want to go, but Barry won't stop asking and whining until he relents. And he is really not in the mood to argue with Barry for nearly thirty minutes until he agrees, especially with everything that happened.

“Fine, What time?” Ross asks, ignoring the cheer Barry lets out after the question.

“It starts at eight and doesn’t end till eleven. I’ll pick you up, see you tomorrow!”  And with that the line goes dead.

Ross presses the sleep button located on the side of his phone and drops the device onto his floor. He winces when he turns to get more comfortable, the places that had been targeted by the seniors complaining at his actions. He should probably check them, make sure nothing is too badly damaged, but he’s exhausted and maybe if he just closes his eyes for a few minutes he’ll feel more awake.

When he opens his eyes again, the light in his room is off and the house is silent. He feels groggy and his mouth tastes like stale fries. He isn’t sure what time it is but he’s sure it’s late, and although he is lethargic, he’s not tired enough to fall back asleep. Besides, he isn’t sure he wants to, his dreams were just full of a certain curly haired punk, his smirk, the way the skin around his eyes crinkled when he smiled, his laugh and the way it followed him into his house after Ross had run away when Dan had kissed his cheek. Ross flushed in the darkness of his room, remembering the way Dan’s slightly chapped lips had felt. Ross shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts, Dan was a punk, he did nothing but smoke everything and skip school and have sex with half of the High School, and Ross had promised himself from the second he stepped foot in the school and heard about the older teen that he was never going to get involved with him. In fact he had made it a _goal_ , and here he was ruining that goal completely and for what? Fries? A kiss on the cheek?

  
Ross set his jaw, deciding from that point on he was a hundred percent done with Dan. He was not going to become another notch on the punk’s bedpost. He was going to go back to ignoring him and then he would be able to accomplish all three of his goals and be on his way to college in no time, leaving this whole town and Dan Avidan behind. With that thought, Ross turns over and tries to fall back asleep.

He didn’t achieve this until an hour before his alarm went off, which he turns off in a half sleep haze. He wakes up again thirty minutes later. Only this time it’s to his bedroom door opening and his mother telling him to wake up cause they need to leave in five minutes or he’s going to be late. Which causes him to fall out of bed and yank on clothes in a half awake daze, throwing his binder and notebooks into his backpack before slinging it over one shoulder as he pulls on his shoes at the same time.

He isn't late. He manages to make it to class a minute before the bell rings and he will definitely count it as a win. He hadn’t even seen Dan in the hallway. So he just considers yesterday just some weird fluke and now everything is back to normal. Goal two and three back to being within reach.

Goal two and three are never going to be within reach again. Ross discovers this during lunch, his day half over. But Ross figures his life is pretty much done now. And it’s all thanks to Dan Avidan.

“It’s not that bad,” Barry is saying, poking at the school lunch. It’s nachos Wednesday and the cheese still hasn't stopped looking questionable since it was first introduced.

“Oh, no it's not bad at all. It's literally the worst thing to ever happen to me,” Ross corrects, his head resting on the table, cradled by his forearms.

“That’s what you said when you got a sixty nine on that test in Algebra,” his friend reminds him, and Ross wants to push the lunch tray into Barry’s lap in retribution.

“Yes! That was the worst thing to happen to me at that time. But this is the worst thing to happen now!” Ross explains, lifting his head to glare at Barry.

Barry pays him no mind as he seems to come to the conclusion that the school lunch is inedible and pushes the tray to the side. “It's just a rumor. It isn't like it means anything,” Barry glances at Ross and shrugs. “Unless it does.”

Ross slams his hands on the table, the impact leaving his palms stinging. “No! It's not true! I would never!” He snaps, and his volume causes other students to look over at his table as they locate the sudden loud noise.

“Then you have nothing to worry about,” Barry replies simply, as if it's that easy.

“What if he beats my ass?” Ross asks, dropping his head to the table. It's cold against his forehead.

“For what? Dumb rumors? Dan always has some rumor about him going around so I doubt he cares. Besides it's not like he's here enough to actually know everything said about him,” Barry points out, rolling his eyes.

“What if his gang beats me?”

“Dan doesn't have a gang.”

“But what if he finds out about the rumors of us being a thing?” Ross makes a face. He had heard the rumors barely ten minutes ago. Some freshman girl twittering as he passed, pointing and saying in a stage whisper that ‘there he is! The one Dan is with right now! That's why he came to school!’ upon hearing this Ross managed to both trip over some invisible object and drop his phone, ending up sprawled across the high school hall. As he stood up and grabbed his phone, checking for cracks and trying to hide the humiliated flush spreading across his face. The other girl standing beside the first, scoffed, saying ‘I can't imagine what Sexbang could ever see in him.'

It stung a lot more than Ross wanted to admit.

“I don't think he would care,” Barry replies, as he glances at his phone. Lunch must almost be over.

Ross sighs and grabs his backpack. “I guess not.”

They both stand, leaving the cafeteria. Barry makes a quick stop to throw away the nachos and set his tray on top of the trash can for it to be collected later. “So, I’ll pick you up around seven tomorrow,” Barry is saying.

Ross looks at Barry, confusion clear on his face. “For what?”

“For the concert that you agreed to go with me to yesterday?” Barry informs him, his voice is patient, use to the way Ross sometimes forgets simple things.

Ross frowns as he tries to concentrate on what Barry said, thinking back to the night before. He blinks as he suddenly remembers. The memory coming to the forefront of his mind. “Oh yeah! Which band again?”

“Ninja Sex Party and Starbomb,” Barry answers, “they sound weird, but they're really good.”

Ross can’t help but burst out laughing. “Ninja Sex Party? What kind of music are you listening to?”

Barry rolls his eyes, but a smile is pulling at his mouth. “Yeah, yeah. You say that now. But by tomorrow you're gonna be a dedicated fan.”

“Sure, I’ll be all over the lead singer,” Ross scoffs.

Barry raises his eyebrows, “funny you should say that.”

Ross frowns, “what does that mean?”

“Nothing,” Barry shrugs as the bell rings, “well, gotta get to class.” And with that he takes off down the hall, his path is quickly swallowed by students desperate to get to class on time.

“Barry!” Ross calls after him. “Ass.” he mumbles as he makes his way down the stairs, holding onto the handrail as to make sure he doesn't trip. He’s focusing on the stairs so much that once he reaches the bottom he doesn't realize someone is in front of him until he collides into a solid chest.

Let's take a second to reaffirm that goal number three is currently charred beyond any recognition. Because it just so happens that the solid chest Ross had bumped into belongs to no one else but Dan Avidan.

Ross swallows the apology that was making its way out of his mouth the second that he sees its Dan. He glares instead. “Excuse you?”

Dan grins at him. “Oh hey, princess.”

Ross flushes in embarrassment and frustration. “I said not to call me that!”

“Aww, is it only for private times?” Dan teases, and Ross wants to throw something into his face. Like a book. Or a chair. Or even a brick.

“No! It’s for never!” Ross snaps, he attracts some attention from the other teenagers passing them as they make their way to class.

“Are you shy?” Dan smirks, and Ross really doesn't like the look on his face. Like he knows something and he's going to use it to annoy the hell out of Ross. “It's okay, sweet cheeks, after all, we are together, right?”

Ross stares up at Dan like he lost his mind and then it dawns on him and his stare of bewilderment turns to a look of horror. Dan heard. He knows about the rumors about them and now he's here to murder Ross brutally in front of the whole student body and they won't do anything because Dan somehow managed to become popular among most of the school even though he was never there. Which confuses Ross to no end.

Dan laughs suddenly and Ross jolts away. “Relax, Ross. You seem so scared. They're just rumors, they don't mean anything.” 

Ross scoffs in attempt to hide his horror with indifference. But it just hurts his throat. “Leave me alone.” He says as he tries to make his way around the older boy, but as he goes to fall smoothly into the flow of students Dan grabs his arm. Not hard, but firm enough to keep him in place.

“Hey, I was thinking since we had such a good time yesterday. That we might do it again, maybe Saturday? There this really cool-”

“No thanks. Already have plans,” Ross cuts Dan off quickly, not interested in whatever he has to say. If Dan is involved then Ross is sure not to be there. He's trying to get goal three back on track even though at this point it's basically like poking its ashy body and mistaking its reaction to the force as its own movement. “Barry invited me to some concert that is playing at Pete’s and I already agreed.”

“Oh, is that right?” Dan is grinning again and that look is back, the one that says he knows something Ross doesn’t and it's making the sophomore’s skin itch.

 “Yeah, it’s going to be really awesome,” Ross grits. The bell rings as he yanks his arm from Dan’s grip. His footsteps echoing down the almost abandoned hall. He doesn't look back to see if Dan is still there, but the feeling of eyes on him let him know. Ross bets he is still wearing that look on his face and if the thought makes him walk faster. Well, no one but Ross knows.

 

-

 

Saturday evening arrives a lot faster than Ross wants. He hadn't been sure what he was suppose to wear so he had decides on jeans and a t-shirt and by the time Barry texts him that he was outside it was too late to change. Not that Ross had decided to, he didn't think he had anyone to impress. He was just going for Barry and maybe he would end up liking the music enough that he wouldn't see it as a waste of his Saturday night.

 The line for the concert wasn't too long and the inside of the bar was crowded to just the right amount. Not too many people to where everyone was crushed together. But not totally empty either. There was a crowd collecting around the stage. The chattering that arose was enough to make it hard to hear as Ross follows Barry into the swarm of people, he stood next to Barry in the middle and was somewhat surprised that he was able to see the stage so well. After all he wasn't the tallest but then again it wasn't a huge crowd either and there was plenty of space between the strangers in front of him so he could see through and get a good view of the band once they got on stage.

 “It should be starting pretty soon,” Barry says, having to lean over and talk directly into Ross’ ear in order to be heard. “Though promise me when they get on stage to not be mad.”

 Ross looks at Barry, confusion written across his face. “What?” he asks, why would he be mad? But Barry has already straightened back up and is watching the stage intently as a loud cheer erupted from the crowds, pulling Ross’ attention to the front. And oh. Ross sees why Barry thinks he will get mad. Because walking out onto the stage with that trademark smirk is no other than Dan Avidan in all his ripped jeans and 90s band t-shirt glory.

 “Oh hell no,” Ross grumbles as he turns to leave. Barry is his ride but he’s sure he can call his mom to come get him or he'll even just start walking even though it's a several hours walk back home. But anything is better than standing here watching Dan’s band perform. Barry grabs his arm before he can make his escape.

 “Ross, just listen to a song,” Barry shouts over the noise. Ross tries to pull away but Barry holds fast. “I'm your ride and you're either walking or staying and I'm not leaving.”

 It's the grip on his arm that keeps him from walking out, and although its warm out Ross really doesn't want to walk home. So he stands next to Barry, crossing his arms and doing his best to display his annoyance. Once Dan reaches the microphone and the cheering has died down enough for him to talk, he grins widely.

 “Hey! Welcome. I'm Danny Sexbang. But you can call me Sexbang for short,” He speaks into the microphone. The resulting laughter and shouts of encouragement from the audience makes Ross roll his eyes. No wonder the punk thinks its okay to act like this. He gets such good feedback for it.

"Thanks for coming out and spending your Saturday night with us. We’ll make it fun,” Dan continues, his eyes are searching the crowd and Ross figures that it's probably because he's looking for some girl to bang after the show. “Today we got two of my bands. Starbomb and Ninja Sex Party. Now which one do you guys wanna hear first?”

The assortment of answers overlap until Ross can barely tell what anyone is saying. But Dan seems to understand perfectly. “I heard Starbomb. So we'll start there and close with Ninja Sex Party.”

Ross watches as another teenager comes on stage, a streak of blond in his hair, he grins excitedly as he sets up another microphone. “Hey. I’m Arin. Mostly known as egoraptor.”

A cheer replies to his words and Arin laughs. “I’m glad you guys know me. Now let's stop stalling and play, okay? What do you guys think?”

Ross thinks he's going to be deaf by the time this concert is over if the constant shouting is anything to go by. But who knows, maybe Barry will figure out that Dan sucks and they'll leave in the next five minutes. When Ross glances at Barry he can already tell that there is no way that they're leaving anytime early. So he settles in and waits for the it to be over. 

The thing is, several songs in and Ross finds himself actually _enjoying_ the concert. Their songs are witty and funny and as much as Ross hates to admit it; Dan has a really good voice. Ross catches himself tapping his foot ever so often and tries to stop it before Barry notices. About an hour into the event and Arin takes his leave. The group transitioning into Ninja Sex Party and Ross is sad to see Arin go for a reason he doesn't understand. Maybe because it gave him something to focus on besides Dan, who’s eyes are still searching through the crowd and Ross can't figure out why. There are plenty of attractive girls and guys in attendance,he would've though Dan would’ve picked one out already.  As soon as he turns his attention back to the punk he finds out who he was looking for. Dan’s eyes have locked onto him and he's grinning and the same look from the other day is on his face. That stupid ‘I know something you don't’ and Ross gets it. Dan knew Ross was going to be here. He’d been looking for him all night. Ross flushes at the thought and he hates the reflex more in that moment than he ever has before.

“Now, before we begin. I’d like to dedicate this song to someone in the audience tonight,” Dan says, there is a teasing tone in his voice and Ross can’t do anything but stare in horror, hoping he isn't about to do what he thinks he's about to do. “This song is for my princess.”

No. He did not. Ross can't stop staring, his mouth agape in shock. The wink Dan gives him doesn't do anything to rectify the situation as the crowd is whispering and giggling and looking around to see if they can find out who ‘princess' is. Ross wants to go on stage and strangle Dan, the only thing keeping him from doing so is Barry’s hold on his wrist.

However after the first few lines about ‘ _I want you to S on my D’_ Ross is out. Done. Finished. Tolerated all he can. Because not only did he call Ross princess in front of everyone, but then preceded to dedicate the raunchiest song of the night to him. And Ross can't take it.

“I’m going outside,” he shouts in Barry’s ear, then without waiting for an answer he pulls out of his friend’s grasp and storms outside. The slamming of the establishment's door is drowned out by several keyboard notes hit in quick succession.

Ross is sitting in front of the bar, his mom isn't answering her phone and Barry still inside. So he had taken to playing on his phone waiting for the show to be over. It's nine thirty when someone leaves the building. Ross glances out of the corner of his eye and at the ripped jeans, out dated band shirt and bushy hair, Ross hunches deeper over his phone, determined not to pay him any mind.

“You took off pretty quick, Ninja Sex Party not your thing?” Dan asks, there is a playful note in his tone and it just makes Ross more irritated.

When Ross doesn't reply, Dan seems to take it as invitation to stand directly next to him and pull out a pack of cigarettes. He pauses before dangling it down towards where Ross is sitting, its still a good distance above him. “You want one?”

Ross shakes his head sharply, and can see Dan shrug before pulling one out for himself. “You gonna tell me whats got my princess in a bad mood or do I have to guess?”

Ross stands up so quick he makes himself dizzy. “I am not your princess!”

Dan smirks, cigarette placed perfectly in between his lips, his fingers deftly flicking his lighter and Ross blushes, like he shouldn't have seen the way Dan so easily creates a flame. He swallows thickly, and looks away.

“Yes, you are,” Dan answers, putting his lighter away once he's done and breathing out a stream of smoke that twists in the May heat.

Ross hates his reaction to frustration, he way his eyes stings and water builds. Hates how he had to get tearful when he felt angry. But he can't stop it anymore than he can get Dan to leave him alone. “Stop saying that!” it sounds more whiny than demanding and it just serves to make him more aggravated which causes the collecting tears to fall and slide down his cheeks.

Dan blinks at him, grasping his cigarette with his thumb and forefinger. “You really are a crier, aren't you?” the tone is gentle and it makes Ross embarrassed to be talked to in such a way. He rubs at his eyes but the tears keep coming, its like a faucet he can't turn off.

The cigarette drops the ground, the red burning embers bright in the darkness and ash stained hands reeking of smoke cup Ross’ cheeks and he has no choice but to drop his arms and stare into the eyes of Dan Avidan. Fingers caress his cheeks as they brush away the slowing tears. Ross doesn't even notice he’s stopped crying until Dan smiles, it catches him off guard, Ross has never seen that expression of his face before. It’s so sweet and soft and it makes Ross’ stomach twist, but in a good way. Like when his mother told him he was going to the amusement park for his twelfth birthday and he was so excited he could barely eat or sleep.

“There you go, all better,” Dan is saying and his thumbs are carefully sweeping over his cheekbones as if he's tracing them and Ross can feel a rush of blood color his cheeks, the top of his ears burning in mortification. Ross doesn't know how long they stand like that, Dan touching Ross’ face so carefully and Ross staring up at Dan, unable to look away. Seconds? Minutes? Hours? A lifetime? But suddenly Dan is pulling away and the soft, sweet expression is gone and just like that; its over. And Ross is puzzled at the feeling of disappointment that is so potent. He doesn't even like Dan. So why is he upset that he pulled away? Shouldn't he be rejoicing?

  
“Come on. The next song is totally awesome, the perfect cure for tears and sad princesses,” Dan says as he opens the door to the bar and motions for Ross to go inside. Ross doesn't look at Dan and instead makes his way as quickly to Barry as he can. He’s moved slightly forward in the time that they've been apart but otherwise is still in the same area. He glances at Ross when he stands beside him.

“So you all up on the lead singer?” he asks, a teasing grin playing at the corners of his mouth.

  
“Shut up,” Ross rolls his eyes. But if for the rest of the night he’s smiling. Well, no one but Ross knows.


	3. Send A Message: I Was Young And A Menace

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi. Yes. Long time. I know. My laptop is broken af. I work a full time job. Im dealing with medical things. Updates will be few and far between. Im doing my best. Thank you.

Dan probably should’ve thought this through better, but that’s a normal thing that goes through Dan’s head when he is trying to crawl in through the living room window at one in the morning, high as all hell. It ends in it's usual symphony of thuds as Dan lands on his side and pulls his legs inside, the lamp wobbling but not falling over to Dan’s relief, and several creative curses. However what Dan isn’t expecting is the living room light clicking on and Brian standing at the end of the hall by the switch, a frown fully formed and an unimpressed look punctuated by a raised eyebrow.

 

Dan grins at him from his upturned position. “Hey, Brian. How's it going?”

 

Brian crosses his arms, and laugh bubbles in his throat, he can’t get over how much Brian looks like a disappointed mother dressed in his robe and sleeping pants.

“It’s one AM,” Brian says pointedly, as Dan struggles to stand up. The weed makes him lightheaded and off balance.

 

“Is it? It's very lovely outside. I think it's gonna be sunny,” Dan says conversationally, leaning against the wall. Brian's frown deepens.

 

“We need to talk, Dan,” and Dan really doesn't like that. His foggy mind is telling him to abort, abandon all stations and get the fuck out now. So that's what he does.

 

“Yeah, but like, I’m high as fuck and so I’m sure I won't know what you're saying,” Dan waves him off, pushing off the wall and bypassing Brian on his way to his room. “We can talk about it tomorrow.” that's a lie. Dan will be sure to be out of the house before Brian can corner him in the kitchen and lecture him on whatever is bothering him about Dan’s behaviour.

 

When Dan turns on the light in his room long enough to shuck off his leather jacket, he notices that Arin is sitting on his bed with his mouth twisted into a disappointed shape. Dan sighs, he should've known that Brian was being too quiet.

 

“Dan, we all need to talk,” Arin says, his hands folding neatly in his lap.

 

“No, we don't, dude. I need to go to bed and you should just, I don't know. Do whatever you do at one AM,” Dan retorts, dropping his jacket onto the floor where he can easily pull it on the next day, or well, later today.

 

“Sleep. I’m sleeping at one AM,” Arin replies, an eyeroll punctuating his answer. And ok, fair enough, Dan should've known that.

 

“Point proven. Goodnight,” Dan says firmly, but Arin doesn't move. He stays sitting on the bed and he just levels Dan with a steady stare. Looks like Arin isn't leaving till he says what he wants to say. Dan sighs again, more exaggerated this time and flops down next to his friend, stretched on his back horizontally, his feet brushing against the carpet.

 

“You haven't been showing up to school,” Arin states causally and Dan groans, of course it was this again.

 

“Is that right? Huh,” Dan closes his eyes, the weed fogs his mind and requests sleep gently and Dan was never one to say no to kindly asked favors.

 

The bed shifts as Arin lies down next to Dan, he can smell the offbrand lavender shampoo Arin uses and relaxation creeps into his muscles. “You can't keep skipping, it's May. You have a month left of school and then you're done, can you just try?”

 

Dan opens his eyes and twists his head to look at the other boy. “It's not my thing, man,” he shrugs. The blanket scrunches up under his shoulders at the motion, the folds are uncomfortable against his back but he's too tired to move.

 

“It's no ones thing,” Arin rolls his eyes again.

 

“It's Ross’ thing,”  Dan protests without thinking, but he regrets it as soon as it's out of his mouth.

 

Arin’s eyebrows crinkle like the blanket underneath them, confusion painting his face. “Ross? Who is that?”

 

Dan shrugs again trying to brush it off as something miniscule, unimportant. The comforter is becoming more uncomfortable. “I don’t know. Just some sophmore, I guess.”

 

“What's his last name?” Of course Arin won't just let it go. Whenever something peaks his interest he’s hard pressed to let it go. Something that Dan finds both irritating and inspiring, however at that moment he just finds it annoying and killing his weed induced state.

 

“O'Donovan,” The punk answers, he tries to make his tone passive, it nags at him that he has to try, he's never had to before. But that's a thought for another time and he carefully files it away to a place he’s positive he'll forget in the next few minutes.

 

“Oh, hey, I have art with him,” Arin informs him, and of course they share a class.

 

Dan closes his eyes again, as if to block out the onslaught of questions that Ross’ name is sure to bring.

 

“But what does he have to do with anything?” And there it begins.

  


The punk exhales heavily, hoping to convey his annoyance, but then again, when has that ever stopped Arin before? The poke on his shoulder reminds him never. It has never worked and it sure as hell isn’t working now.

 

“I don’t know, forget I brought him up,” Dan replies, shifting in attempt to unbunch the blanket underneath him, it only helps to create more folds to prod at his shoulderblades.

 

“Are you doing him or something? I heard rumors, but I didn’t think much of it,” Arin is saying, and his voice is usually enough to send Dan off to sleep, it’s always been soothing, but the words his voice is making keep him conscious. “But like, he’s not out of your league, you know? So it’s possible.”

 

Dan frowns, “not out of my league? What?”

 

“Like he’s your type, I guess, isn’t he?”

 

And, wow, Dan never really thought about that, didn’t even realize he had a type, he usually did anyone willing and not a total douchebag, or at least that's what he thought.  

 

“I don’t know, man, look, it’s late, or early, or what the fuck ever and I’m tired,” Dan answers, hoping Arin will take the hint to piss off.

 

“Yeah, me too, but I had to wait up for you and we have school tomorrow, or well, I do,” Arin mumbles, but he doesn’t say anything else, and within a few seconds-minutes? Dan can never estimate time when high-light snores are erupting from the body next to Dan. The punk smiles slightly, and turns onto his side towards Arin, the off brand shampoo becoming stronger, but it’s a nice scent and within the next moment, Dan is joining Arin in a slumber.

 

The light creeping through Dan’s window the next morning is too bright, and it makes the usual darkness behind closed eyelids into a bright orange. Dan hates when that happens, it’s too vibrant for A.M hours, and P.M hours, or any hours for that matter. Dan twists away from the light, but it aggravates the crick in his neck that is suddenly making itself known. Giving up, Dan sits up and rubs at his neck. When he opens his eyes he can see that Arin is already gone, probably didn't even bother to wake him up and Dan's not sure if he's grateful or resentful about it. Even though Brian is going to chew him out for missing classes again he's leaning towards grateful.

With a yawn, Dan stands up and yanks on his leather jacket, not bothering to change his  clothes from yesterday, it’s not like he's trying to impress anyone anyway.

 

The weed from yesterday makes him sluggish and he drags his feet as he leaves the house, shoving the turkey wrap he nicked from the fridge in his mouth as he goes, it's probably Arin’s. He was right about it being sunny, the rays painting shadows of foliage on the pavement. It drapes his shoulders as he walks underneath the trees. With it already the second week of May, summer is impatient to arrive, it shoots the temperature to high eighties and Dan debates stripping off his leather jacket as he can already feel sweat collecting under his armpits and on the back of his neck.

 

He’s already pulling the zipper down when he reaches the entrance of the High School. The group loitering around the front isn't what makes him pause in his path to the school. It's what's being said, loud and boisterously. Spiteful laughter follows everything spit out. Dan usually doesn't bother with the other students, tends to mind his own business unless he's mentioned by name. But a name registers in his drug addled mind and it makes him stop barely a foot from the four teenage boys. They're talking about Ross and that alone makes his blood boil.

 

“Dude, he straight up ate shit, like, totally wiped out,” one is saying, “right on his face.”

 

The laughter erupts from the three other boys, “over Dan Avidan?” one asks through bouts of snickering, “I didn't know he was into dick.”

 

“How can you not? He looks like you’d find him at the gay bar regularly,” another replies, the laughter turns to a cruel cackle.

 

Dan doesn't realize he’s gritting his teeth till his jaw aches sharply.

 

“How long till Dan drops him? I’m betting one more week,” someone else in the groups cuts in.

“No way, dude, Ross is probably an easy lay, Dan will have moved on by tomorrow,”

 

Dan should leave it alone, people have always talked shit, especially about him and this isn't even close to the first time that students have mouthed off about his relationships but for some reason Dan doesn't understand, this pisses him off. Maybe it's the lack of sleep, the lecture Brian has been trying to give him for a week, or even the drugs messing with his brain chemistry. But suddenly he's standing over a sprawled out teenager, his fist stinging and a swelling eye already appearing on the boy’s face.

 

He barely has time to register what he's done and utter a curse word before he’s in the middle of a fight, a flurry of fists and yells. He's proud to say he manages to last until several security guards are running out of the school and yanking them apart, shouting and telling them to ‘break it up’. Dan considers the bloody nose, aching stomach and scraped knuckles prizes to be bragged about.

 

What isn't a prize to be bragged about is sitting in the principal's office with Brian in the chair next to him being told he's facing possible expulsion.

 

It's even less of a prize when Brain has to charm the shit out of the principle with promises of ‘he's just going through things,’ and ‘he won't skip class anymore,’ however when Brian mentioned Dan ‘becoming a model student’ Dan couldn't contain the snort of laughter before stifling it when Brian shoots him an infamous sharp looks promising slow and painful death. Regardless of Dan’s indifference to the conversation the principles retracts the expulsion and compromises a few days suspension, better attendance and outstanding behavior. Which Brian snaps up quickly. Shoving Dan out the door before the principle can change his mind.

 

The front door closes behind them with an foreboding thud. The heavy presence just over Dan’s shoulder does nothing to ease the tension.

 

“Dan,”

 

And there is it. The beginning of the long lecture of ‘don't throw your life away’, ‘You can't continue to act like this’ and whatever else he wants to say while Dan tunes him out, thinking instead of what he wants to eat for dinner. But for some reason Dan can't get what those idiots said out of his head. The words repeating as if a tape stuck on loop. Acting like they knew him, as if he’d shown up enough for anyone to really figure him out. Yet there they stood, saying things that had no business coming out of their mouths. Dan can feel the irritation building to anger. His fingers digging into his palms. He can barely hear what Brian is saying over the increasing roaring in his ears. He can't take it anymore and twists around to face the older man. Cutting him off mid sentence.

 

“They were fucking talking like that know what the fuck I feel about him!” He shouts. His voice bouncing off the walls and echoing faintly. “How the fuck do they know anything, when I don't even fucking know?!”

 

The only sounds left when he's done are the heavy panting of Dan and the echo of his words. And Dan can’t take his eyes off Brian's startled and confused face. The anger is slowly subsiding and eventually the silence encases the room before shattered by Brian.

 

“Who?”

 

Dan’s eyes widen in realization of how fucked he is. What he said. What he be implying.

 

“Fuck, nothing. No one,” Dan replies, as he runs his hands through his locks, snagging one on his index finger.

 

“Dan,” Brian repeats, softer, more coaxing this time. It's his ‘everything-is-ok voice’. Dan doesn't fall for it.

 

“I said no one. Drop it,” he snaps, and before Brian can say anything else. Dan's gone. Moving around the older man and out the door. He doesn't know where he is going till he gets there, a park about a good distance from his house. Its empty at this time. Everyone still in school, will be for several more hours.

 

The gravel crunches under his shoes as he makes his way to the swings as they sway in the slight breeze. The foliage making different shadows on the playground as they pull back and forth with the wind. His sudden momentum causes the swing to move and he lets his heels drag on the gravel. Going over the grooves made by other people, the dirt peeking out between the small rocks.

 

Why did he care so much what they said. Maybe it was because they were right. Fucking and moving on was Dan's reputation. Way to pass the time. Why did it matter to him if he was a one night stand, maybe that's why Ross hated him. He knew what Dan did, figured he’d be the same and maybe he was right.

  
  
However in the back of Dan's mind, there was a thought that maybe he was wrong instead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short and not much ross danny interaction. Sorry. Just wanted to put something up before i was unable. More danny and ross interaction next chapter. Promise. Thank you.


End file.
